Washington State women pick up first conference win, split of season series with rival UW Huskies

SEATTLE – Sometimes, revenge is the best motivator. For the Washington women’s basketball team, it was simply too much to overcome.

The Huskies couldn’t pull off another upset victory over Washington State on Sunday at Alaska Airlines Arena, as the Cougars came away with a 72-59 victory in the longtime rivals’ final regular-season matchup as Pac-12 foes.

The Huskies beat WSU 60-55 in surprising fashion Dec. 10, but some timely shots from the Cougars and poor 3-point shooting from UW doomed the Huskies to the loss column once again, extending their frustrating stretch of late.

While the Huskies got a spectacular 23-point performance from Dalayah Daniels, the Cougars held strong. WSU outshot the Huskies, 30 field goals to 24, and won the rebound battle, 34-28.

The Huskies shot just 3 of 12 from 3-point territory, while the Cougars managed six 3s.

The loss extended UW’s losing streak to four games, which comes on the heels of the Huskies’ thrilling 11-0 start to the season. The Huskies haven’t won a game since Dec. 16 against Saint Mary’s.

That game was also the most recent time the Huskies (11-4, 1-3) played at home before Sunday, as UW played at Louisville on Dec. 20 for their first loss, before coming out of the holiday break with road games at California and Stanford.

With more than a month passing between games on their home court and after seeing a multitude of teams with so many different styles of play, coach Tina Langley is confident the Huskies have gained some valuable experience that will make them better in the weeks to come.

“I think just that discipline that comes from experience is important,” Langley said. “So every single time we go on the floor, that experience is awesome for us, because we did need more experience.”

Daniels was the Huskies’ biggest bright spot against the Cougars, shooting 9 of 12 from the field, with eight rebounds. Her 23 points were nearly double her season average, and were her most in a game since Nov. 17, 2022, against UC Irvine, when she also put up 23.

“I think what you’ll find about her is every year she continues to expand her game,” Langley said. “So she’s got tremendous work ethic and can play on the perimeter, in the post and she can guard any position. She’s just become such a dynamic player, and a real pro on both ends of the floor.”

The Huskies’ much hyped defense came out strong by holding WSU to 11 points and just 35.7% shooting in the first quarter, but the Cougars roared back with a 9-0 run near the start of the second, and controlled the game for most of the final three quarters.

Jenna Villa pulled WSU within a point at 6:43 in the second quarter as her 3-pointer from the corner made it a 20-19 game, and Kyra Gardner put the Cougars in front 40 seconds later with another 3. UW briefly tied the game when Daniels tipped one in from the paint, but Bella Murekatete put WSU back in front at the half with a layup as time expired to make it 28-26.

The teams traded buckets in the minutes coming out of the half, but the Cougs took control with back-to-back scores from Eleonora Villa and Murekatete. When Charlisse Leger-Walker nailed a third-quarter 3-pointer at 5:46 to put WSU ahead by six points, the Cougs were in full control.

A 3-pointer from Tara Wallack with 6:49 to go in the game put the Cougars ahead by nine. Subsequent jumpers from Eleonara Villa and Wallack made it a 13-point game and seemed to be the dagger that ended UW’s comeback hopes.

While the Cougars came out on top, there were still some bright spots for the UW defense, which held Leger-Walker, WSU’s leading scorer, to just eight points, three of them coming on free throws in the final minutes of the game.

In the midst of a tough afternoon, the fact that her team held the No. 12 scorer in the conference in check was something that filled with Langley with hope.

“I think that we’re a team that’s really growing and learning fast, and so when I look out there there’s moments and like I’m like ‘we got it, we got it,’ ” Langley said. “It’s really cool, there’s moments where you can see it clicking for everyone, and I’m really encouraged by that.”

To Daniels, defense is still the team’s bread and butter. Though the Cougars’ 72 points was a new season high allowed for the Huskies, holding one of the top scorers in the conference to single digits is a promising sign.

The Huskies came into Sunday with the top scoring defense in the Pac-12 with an average of 50.14 points allowed per game.

“We take a lot more pride in our defense,” Daniels said. “We realize that we’re just as good defensively as we are offensively. … We’re not underestimating any team, we have to defend the 3 and the post. They’re all good. It’s not like preseason where you can focus on only one or two players, we really have to focus and really know the scout.

“I feel like we’ve still been improving on that, but obviously a ways to go.”

Eleonora Villa and Beyonce Bea paced the offense for WSU with 16 and 12 points, respectively, while Jenna Villa and Murekatete each had 10.

“Getting four, five, six people in double figures, I really think that is our path forward,” WSU coach Kamie Ethridge said. “That’s when we’re at our best … really good steps. I think we’ve tried to make some big adjustments as we’ve gone forward. If this is an indication of where we’re going, I like what we’re doing.”

The win snapped WSU’s three-game losing streak and gave the Cougars (12-5, 1-3) their first win of the season in conference play.